Let me start out by saying that I never really liked Lastings Milledge. It wasn't because of his rap album. It wasn't because of his "high-fiving antics" after his first home run at Shea. It wasn't because of the note that his "teammates" (or Paul Lo Duca, I mean lets be honest) left on his locker during his rookie season. Really, if the guy can play, who really cares? I didn't like Milledge because he gave off the impression ithat he thought he was better then he was. If ever their was an example of a prospect believing in his own hype to a fault, its Milladge. I never looked at Milledge and saw a player that was going to be any more then a .280, 20 home run guy. That's nice, but its certainly not what you want in the jewel of your farm system. This season Milledge hit .272 with 7 homers in 184 at-bats. He hit .241 with 4 homers in 166 at-bats in 2006. That's .257 with 11 home-runs in 350 career at-bats. He doesn't walk a lot either. His on-base percentage is just .326 in 115 games. That + a history of poor defense + a general bad attitude= a player that the Mets needed to get rid of.
To me, the time to trade Milledge was last off-season. His value was still supposedly through the roof (compared to other Met prospects) and it was pretty obvious that Mets brass were less then impressed with the right fielder. I'll never understand why they didn't make the move then.
That being said, I remain perplexed at today's development. If you haven't heard yet, The Mets traded Lastings to the Nationals for outfielder Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider. If you read that last sentence allowed and someone in the room remarked "huh?", then you can pretty much imagine my reaction. My good buddy, Alex, actually thought I was kidding. Now, from a pure statistics standpoint, it isn't a horrible trade. Church had 470 at-bats and hit .272 with 15 homers and 70 RBI. Schnider hit .235 with 6 homers and 54 RBI in 129 at-bats. But isn't Lastings Milledge's value a little higher then Ryan Church and Brian Schider? I get this feeling lately that the Mets settle far too quickly when shopping prospects. I hate to go back to the Scott Kazmir trade because I think Met fans need to get over it, but in this case it's significant. All we heard for years was how much trade value Scott Kazmir had. We also heard that it was going down rapidly and the Mets had to make a decision quickly. The rest is history and I won't bother to repeat it because I could dedicate a whole post on how much I hate when Met fans bring that up.
Do I think that in 20 years this trade will rank with the Kazmir trade as being among the worst in Met history? No. I actually think that, when push comes to shove, it'll be looked back on as an average trade with the slight edge going to the Nats. What I can't get over is the fact that the Mets could have used Milledge to make a "steel" type of move. Now the Mets biggest value chip is gone. How do you expect to get a top flight pitcher with a farm system that many experts believe is a step behind? I would give up Jose Reyes for Johan Santana. I think anytime you have a chance to get a pitcher like Santana, who would absolutely dominate batters in the National League, you do what it takes to do it. If there are some causalities, then so be it. I wish the Twins would trade Santana for John Maine and Ramon Castro too, but somehow I don't see that happening. The problem now is this- The only chance the Mets had of getting Santanna from the Twins was probably a package that included Reyes and Milledge. I don't see Minnesota trading for Jose Reyas straight up. Why would they?
So many reasons exist on why this trade doesn't make sense. Johnny Estrada being another one. I can only assume that the Mets will let Estrada go in January when he is eligible for arbitration. If they don't, then they have three catchers. They don't carry three catchers. They never have. Hardly anyone does. And the list on why this trade was weird goes on and on and on. Oh, by the way, Lastings Milledge is 22. Brian Schnider is a 31 year old catcher. Church is 29. Just thought I'd mention that.
I know The Mets were jonesing to get rid of Lasting Milledege. But did they have to be so obvious about it? When you settle for less, you useully get it.
-Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge- Monday 9pm and Fourth Down- Friday 9pm only on mywcwp.com
Friday, November 30, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Note to the readers
The views, awful puns, run-on sentences, multiple cliches- and just the overall disregard for spell check by Nick Malone does not represent the views of the WCWP Sports dept. We are investigating the reasoning for such awful journalism. Thank You
- Mike Tramontozzi, WCWP Sports director
- Mike Tramontozzi, WCWP Sports director
Eli Manning 101...
Eli Manning’s four interception horror against the Vikings barely created confidence in the young quarterback’s ability to carry the New York Giants to playoff victory. In fact, some at the game where calling for back up Jared Lorenzen.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Are we serious?
There are a number of things that the younger Manning has done wrong over his still blossoming career. Last Sunday was one of them, as he looked scared of a Viking defense that is hardly anything special. The relatively simple cover-2 scheme that Minnesota ran seemed to confuse the Giants quarterback as he frequently threw into the arms of linebackers and safeties. To make the situation worse, three of his four interceptions were returned for touchdowns.
However, reading the defense isn’t Eli’s only problem. It was the lack of his starting running back that killed him. Without Brandon Jacobs, he felt the need to win the game all by himself. That led to him making throws that he normally thinks twice about making. He barely had time to think at all due to heavy inside pressure from Minnesota as the Giants offensive line has by
far its worst day of the year.
What people like to forget is that there are a lot of good things that Manning has done over the last two years. First off, there are four teams that have made the playoffs each of the last two years: The Colts, Patriots, Seahawks and Giants. While it’s hard to take solace in that after such a disgusting loss, it’s a daunting achievement. Those three teams have been amongst the NFL’s most consistent, and it’s been along time since the Giants have been able to call themselves consistent. Need we bring back memories of the up-and-down Jim Fassel era?
Another strong point is Eli’s knack for simply winning games. Sure, he may not win them singlehandedly by throwing the ball 40 times a game, but he does win. Since the beginning of 2005, when he was named the full time starter, he is 26-17.
For those who say that Manning is not the reason that the team has succeeded, it’s clear that he is a vital part of it. Over the last three years, the embattled quarterback has posted a plus-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio. That means that he’s put the ball in the end zone 14 times more than he’s put it into the hands of the defense.
The issue for New York fans is the unmanageable expectations that are put on Manning. Part of that is his fault. The trade demand on draft day will haunt him for the rest of the career, and unless he is the second coming of his brother, he will always have his detractors.
However, ESPN always brings up the draft picks that San Diego received for Manning and the Pro Bowl players that they became. Well, Former general manager Ernie Accorsi couldn’t have known that Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding would be the Chargers picks, let alone be so great. Comparing value with those players to Manning is like saying we could have prevented Britney Spears’ comeback by having her killed five years ago. Hindsight is always 20/20.
The other problem is that Eli is at his best when he is boring. That’s right; Eli is a very talented game manager. He has the talent to win an occasional game by himself, but is always at his best with a strong running game and a good defense helping him out. When Eli can play action pass, he is a different quarterback and his completion percentage and quarterback rating jump into the atmosphere. When you can give him the ball in opponent’s territory, he will convert it into points.
There is no doubt that Manning’s Thanksgiving Week Disaster is somewhat worrisome. However, it would be silly to think that Eli isn’t prepared to lead the Giants into the playoffs. He’s already done it twice before.
-Anthony De Franco, Football Analyst on 4th Down, every Friday from 9pm-10pm on mywcwp.com. For more analysis, opinion and general insanity, visit 3rdStringSafety.blogspot.com
Ladies and Gentlemen, Are we serious?
There are a number of things that the younger Manning has done wrong over his still blossoming career. Last Sunday was one of them, as he looked scared of a Viking defense that is hardly anything special. The relatively simple cover-2 scheme that Minnesota ran seemed to confuse the Giants quarterback as he frequently threw into the arms of linebackers and safeties. To make the situation worse, three of his four interceptions were returned for touchdowns.
However, reading the defense isn’t Eli’s only problem. It was the lack of his starting running back that killed him. Without Brandon Jacobs, he felt the need to win the game all by himself. That led to him making throws that he normally thinks twice about making. He barely had time to think at all due to heavy inside pressure from Minnesota as the Giants offensive line has by
far its worst day of the year.
What people like to forget is that there are a lot of good things that Manning has done over the last two years. First off, there are four teams that have made the playoffs each of the last two years: The Colts, Patriots, Seahawks and Giants. While it’s hard to take solace in that after such a disgusting loss, it’s a daunting achievement. Those three teams have been amongst the NFL’s most consistent, and it’s been along time since the Giants have been able to call themselves consistent. Need we bring back memories of the up-and-down Jim Fassel era?
Another strong point is Eli’s knack for simply winning games. Sure, he may not win them singlehandedly by throwing the ball 40 times a game, but he does win. Since the beginning of 2005, when he was named the full time starter, he is 26-17.
For those who say that Manning is not the reason that the team has succeeded, it’s clear that he is a vital part of it. Over the last three years, the embattled quarterback has posted a plus-14 touchdown-to-interception ratio. That means that he’s put the ball in the end zone 14 times more than he’s put it into the hands of the defense.
The issue for New York fans is the unmanageable expectations that are put on Manning. Part of that is his fault. The trade demand on draft day will haunt him for the rest of the career, and unless he is the second coming of his brother, he will always have his detractors.
However, ESPN always brings up the draft picks that San Diego received for Manning and the Pro Bowl players that they became. Well, Former general manager Ernie Accorsi couldn’t have known that Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding would be the Chargers picks, let alone be so great. Comparing value with those players to Manning is like saying we could have prevented Britney Spears’ comeback by having her killed five years ago. Hindsight is always 20/20.
The other problem is that Eli is at his best when he is boring. That’s right; Eli is a very talented game manager. He has the talent to win an occasional game by himself, but is always at his best with a strong running game and a good defense helping him out. When Eli can play action pass, he is a different quarterback and his completion percentage and quarterback rating jump into the atmosphere. When you can give him the ball in opponent’s territory, he will convert it into points.
There is no doubt that Manning’s Thanksgiving Week Disaster is somewhat worrisome. However, it would be silly to think that Eli isn’t prepared to lead the Giants into the playoffs. He’s already done it twice before.
-Anthony De Franco, Football Analyst on 4th Down, every Friday from 9pm-10pm on mywcwp.com. For more analysis, opinion and general insanity, visit 3rdStringSafety.blogspot.com
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Eli Manning: The Lost, Confused, & Ugly Mystery
Let me set the Mood: The New York Football Giants come into November 25th game against the Minnesota Vikings with a record of 7-3 and well assured that the spot inside the NFC playoff picture is up for the taking after watching Detroit get manhandled by the superior Green Bay Packers (Best Team in the NFC and will prove so when they face Dallas on November 29th) on Thanksgiving Day. You have Eli Manning and the Giants defense getting a crucial victory over those same Detroit Lions just last week. The defense stepped up as it has in almost every game this entire season since the second half stand against the Washington Redskins in the third game of the season. But time in and time again you have seen Eli perform under the scrutiny of the New York Media while he watched the running back by committee tandem in Ruben Droughns, Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward for a good portion of the season and also why Steve Spagnola has been seen using many of the same blitz packages that he learned from under the system of the Blitzing guru in Philadelphia, in Jim Johnson. Which brings us to week 11's Matchup letting the setting speak for itself with a perfect opportunity to hold a strangle hold controlling their own fate and destiny if they only could come up with a win.
Now that you have a visual of the overall season outlook so far, I don't want to make it seem like all of the criticisim is derived because of the lack luster play and peeps; lets be frank about this ok? Eli Manning; a quality product setting all sorts of Qb records down in Ole Miss and when it comes time to be drafted, He gets selected by the Chargers (Higher than the counterpart he's traded for in Phillip Rivers, and probably the best one of all 3 up to this point in Ben Rothelisberger) and complains saying he wants to play with the Giants and Ernie Accoursie trades for the Manning Kin giving up Rivers and another pick later in the draft that turns out to be Shawn Merriman in the 2005 draft. Not saying that it was a bad trade because you look at the systems that are built for the Giants and Chargers and you look at a QB in Rivers that has regressed this year to a level lower than Manning in Norv Turner system instead of excelling in Marty Schotenheimers but the main selling point is that he will turn out like his Older brother in Peyton Manning in say after the first couple of years that Eli was supposed to be this elite Quarterback matching the days when Phil Sims lead the Giants to Super Bowl Victory over the Dever Broncos in Super Bowl XXI and a major contribution to the Giants SB victory against the Bills in XXV that is infamous for the Scott Norwood miss as time expired but thats for another time and place. Manning's expectation status was elevated to a plateau that he may never meet because of all of this scrutiny coming from the New York Media and trying to live up to and over exceeding the legacy that his father Archie and older brother, Peyton, set. Confusion under the pocket, poor game management skills, and the immaturity to step up and be a team leader are some of Mannings problems just to name a few. You could expect this from a rookie because nothing is ever expected of him to try and be the star of the team when that puzzle piece (aka the Rookie) would be a major tool somewhere down the road as a part of a rebuilding process but this is Mannings fourth season and third full season now as the Starting Quarterback.
I'm not trying to paint the a picture of all doom and gloom because after this week's results you still see the Giants with a 7 and 4 record which is still good and of the last remaining games you have to head over to Chicago who with a 5-6 record still control their own playoff destiny. Phildelphia who's been the only team this year that nobody expected to give New England a run for its money almost ending the undefeated streak and that was without Donovan McNabb. New Orleans whose been 5-2 since loosing their first four games of the season especially if Drew Brees starts to pick up where he last left off in the 2006 campaign where he and Reggie Bush led the Saints to the NFC Championship Game. Fellow Division Rival Washington Redskins that the Giants meet in a little under 3 weeks from now and Arizona Cardinals who suffered a deflating overtime loss to San Fransisco especially after the way that Larry Fitzgerald played against the 49'er secondary. But with their win over the Detroit Lions, the Giants still hold a 2 game advantage over everybody else in the Wildcard slot. But at this point in the season you can't have another meltdown like in the past two previous seasons where the Train looks good enough to pull into the station but breaks down just inches from the last lap
of the race. Injuries to key players like Kareem Mckenzie, Brandon Jacobs hobbeling to start, Matheias Keiwenuka with a broken Leg, Plexico Burress playing at 60% healthy with Back and Ankle issues that its getting to a point where the weapons that Eli Manning needs are pulling up lame forcing him to go to backup options like Jeremy "Player Hater" Shockey, Ruben "Back Up" Droughns, Madison "Top of the Graduating Class" Hedgecock at your fullback position not to mention Amani Toomer who is like that veteran reliefe pitcher that you try to bring into the game to make those keey outs in pressure points at specific time in the game but can never be the #1 slot reciever that Eli needs because Eli gets to become to indecisive and when he gets that Nervous "Oh Well" look on his face he struggles and becomes mediocre to terrible at best. After the way he performed, with that offense out of sinc against the last rated pass defense in the Minnesota Vikings that included 3 of his 4 interceptions returned back to the big house it almost made me wish that Anthony Wright was in the game just so he could throw one pass that wouldn't end up hitting the dirt or scrambling backwards just because you can't throw the Football. Disappointing isn't even a word I would use to describe the deplorable and GOD AWFUL play that Manning showcased against the 4 and 6 Vikings squad with their star running back even out of the game but to give the Vikings credit, Tavaris Jackson was very elusive in escaping the Giants oil based tackles that Strahan seemed to excel at in today's game.
With this loss and Brother Peyton dominating, the little kid of Eli that Eli symbolizes can't break out of that scared shell and can't step up to the field level and actually make a half decent pass. He's had his flashes of change in the first game of the season against Dallas but Dallas has a soft pass defense which is probably their only weakness that Brett Farve will expose in that 5 Wide Out Spread that Mike McCarthy likes to use in "Title Town". Throwing balls into the dirt, throwing off your back foot, bad game clock decisions and shooting yourselves into the foot is not a circumstance that Giant Fans like Your or I could be comfortable with. Manning has regressed but then again so has the system that Tom Coughlin has tried to build for the past 4 years now. The Defense has played excellent but you can't always depend on Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Antonio Pierce, Aaron Ross, and Sam Madison to do your scoring for you because without any offensive production, the defense will crack sooner rather than later. This is a stressing point that I have been stressing since this season began that if the Giants were going to succeed then Eli needs to take a major step up in his game play and he quite honestly has yet to do so and it pains me to say thatbecause he doesn't have that poise to even make simple passes because he's too nervous like the little kid that he portrays himself to be on the field. The Giants need to play like a Playoff team and act the part if they ever expect to be considered seriously in the field of mediocrity because it tends to be those teams that try to take the bull by the horns like the Packers and Cowboys to take the responsibility to be the elite and the cream of the crop separating yourself from the rest of the pack. If you can't handle the criticism then you don't deserve to wear the uniform that you put on and theres been plenty of players from all sports that have come into the Big Apple and folded like a ton of bricks. Just ask the Steroided Mets of the 1990's and early 00's when they had Robbie Alomar, Robin ventura, Mo Vaughn whose probably eating a Double Bacon Cheese Berger right about now if I were to make an assumption. Anyways, the moral of the story kids is that Eli has yet to show me the moxy and personality and more importantly the PLAYING ABILITY that it takes to get the Job done when your team needs you the most.
Later Peeps.
- Nick Malone: "The Edge": Mondays 9-10pm on mywcwp.com; "The Edge": on 88.1 FM from 10-11pm Mondays; & "Over The Ropes": Saturdays from 10-11pm only on mywcwp.com
Now that you have a visual of the overall season outlook so far, I don't want to make it seem like all of the criticisim is derived because of the lack luster play and peeps; lets be frank about this ok? Eli Manning; a quality product setting all sorts of Qb records down in Ole Miss and when it comes time to be drafted, He gets selected by the Chargers (Higher than the counterpart he's traded for in Phillip Rivers, and probably the best one of all 3 up to this point in Ben Rothelisberger) and complains saying he wants to play with the Giants and Ernie Accoursie trades for the Manning Kin giving up Rivers and another pick later in the draft that turns out to be Shawn Merriman in the 2005 draft. Not saying that it was a bad trade because you look at the systems that are built for the Giants and Chargers and you look at a QB in Rivers that has regressed this year to a level lower than Manning in Norv Turner system instead of excelling in Marty Schotenheimers but the main selling point is that he will turn out like his Older brother in Peyton Manning in say after the first couple of years that Eli was supposed to be this elite Quarterback matching the days when Phil Sims lead the Giants to Super Bowl Victory over the Dever Broncos in Super Bowl XXI and a major contribution to the Giants SB victory against the Bills in XXV that is infamous for the Scott Norwood miss as time expired but thats for another time and place. Manning's expectation status was elevated to a plateau that he may never meet because of all of this scrutiny coming from the New York Media and trying to live up to and over exceeding the legacy that his father Archie and older brother, Peyton, set. Confusion under the pocket, poor game management skills, and the immaturity to step up and be a team leader are some of Mannings problems just to name a few. You could expect this from a rookie because nothing is ever expected of him to try and be the star of the team when that puzzle piece (aka the Rookie) would be a major tool somewhere down the road as a part of a rebuilding process but this is Mannings fourth season and third full season now as the Starting Quarterback.
I'm not trying to paint the a picture of all doom and gloom because after this week's results you still see the Giants with a 7 and 4 record which is still good and of the last remaining games you have to head over to Chicago who with a 5-6 record still control their own playoff destiny. Phildelphia who's been the only team this year that nobody expected to give New England a run for its money almost ending the undefeated streak and that was without Donovan McNabb. New Orleans whose been 5-2 since loosing their first four games of the season especially if Drew Brees starts to pick up where he last left off in the 2006 campaign where he and Reggie Bush led the Saints to the NFC Championship Game. Fellow Division Rival Washington Redskins that the Giants meet in a little under 3 weeks from now and Arizona Cardinals who suffered a deflating overtime loss to San Fransisco especially after the way that Larry Fitzgerald played against the 49'er secondary. But with their win over the Detroit Lions, the Giants still hold a 2 game advantage over everybody else in the Wildcard slot. But at this point in the season you can't have another meltdown like in the past two previous seasons where the Train looks good enough to pull into the station but breaks down just inches from the last lap
of the race. Injuries to key players like Kareem Mckenzie, Brandon Jacobs hobbeling to start, Matheias Keiwenuka with a broken Leg, Plexico Burress playing at 60% healthy with Back and Ankle issues that its getting to a point where the weapons that Eli Manning needs are pulling up lame forcing him to go to backup options like Jeremy "Player Hater" Shockey, Ruben "Back Up" Droughns, Madison "Top of the Graduating Class" Hedgecock at your fullback position not to mention Amani Toomer who is like that veteran reliefe pitcher that you try to bring into the game to make those keey outs in pressure points at specific time in the game but can never be the #1 slot reciever that Eli needs because Eli gets to become to indecisive and when he gets that Nervous "Oh Well" look on his face he struggles and becomes mediocre to terrible at best. After the way he performed, with that offense out of sinc against the last rated pass defense in the Minnesota Vikings that included 3 of his 4 interceptions returned back to the big house it almost made me wish that Anthony Wright was in the game just so he could throw one pass that wouldn't end up hitting the dirt or scrambling backwards just because you can't throw the Football. Disappointing isn't even a word I would use to describe the deplorable and GOD AWFUL play that Manning showcased against the 4 and 6 Vikings squad with their star running back even out of the game but to give the Vikings credit, Tavaris Jackson was very elusive in escaping the Giants oil based tackles that Strahan seemed to excel at in today's game.
With this loss and Brother Peyton dominating, the little kid of Eli that Eli symbolizes can't break out of that scared shell and can't step up to the field level and actually make a half decent pass. He's had his flashes of change in the first game of the season against Dallas but Dallas has a soft pass defense which is probably their only weakness that Brett Farve will expose in that 5 Wide Out Spread that Mike McCarthy likes to use in "Title Town". Throwing balls into the dirt, throwing off your back foot, bad game clock decisions and shooting yourselves into the foot is not a circumstance that Giant Fans like Your or I could be comfortable with. Manning has regressed but then again so has the system that Tom Coughlin has tried to build for the past 4 years now. The Defense has played excellent but you can't always depend on Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Antonio Pierce, Aaron Ross, and Sam Madison to do your scoring for you because without any offensive production, the defense will crack sooner rather than later. This is a stressing point that I have been stressing since this season began that if the Giants were going to succeed then Eli needs to take a major step up in his game play and he quite honestly has yet to do so and it pains me to say thatbecause he doesn't have that poise to even make simple passes because he's too nervous like the little kid that he portrays himself to be on the field. The Giants need to play like a Playoff team and act the part if they ever expect to be considered seriously in the field of mediocrity because it tends to be those teams that try to take the bull by the horns like the Packers and Cowboys to take the responsibility to be the elite and the cream of the crop separating yourself from the rest of the pack. If you can't handle the criticism then you don't deserve to wear the uniform that you put on and theres been plenty of players from all sports that have come into the Big Apple and folded like a ton of bricks. Just ask the Steroided Mets of the 1990's and early 00's when they had Robbie Alomar, Robin ventura, Mo Vaughn whose probably eating a Double Bacon Cheese Berger right about now if I were to make an assumption. Anyways, the moral of the story kids is that Eli has yet to show me the moxy and personality and more importantly the PLAYING ABILITY that it takes to get the Job done when your team needs you the most.
Later Peeps.
- Nick Malone: "The Edge": Mondays 9-10pm on mywcwp.com; "The Edge": on 88.1 FM from 10-11pm Mondays; & "Over The Ropes": Saturdays from 10-11pm only on mywcwp.com
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Thanksgiving Football Picks
Of the many things that I love about Thanksgiving Day, Football is chief among them. If it wasn't good enough to have a long weekend and a "Christmas-launch dinner" (because, lets be honest, that's what it's become), having mid-week football games only adds to the charm of Thanksgiving. For the second consecutive year, three football games will be available for those lucky enough to have the NFL Network.....or live in Indiana or Georgia. So without further holiday description.........my picks:
Jets/Cowboys: I have been waiting my entire life for the Jets to play on Thanksgiving Day. I know it's kind of a lame wish to have, but I've always thought that watching my favorite sports franchise play on one of my favorite days on the calender would be cool. When I found out in March that the Jets were headed to Dallas for a Thanksgiving contest, I was overwhelmed with excitement. At 2-8, I'm not so sure it'll be as fun as I had hoped. However, I'm not convinced that this will be the blow out everyone seems to think it'll be. Sure, the Cowboys are the best team in the NFC and have an offense that would make the better defensive teams in the league concerned. Sure, the Jets have no real "defensive presence" to speak of, but I see this one being close for most of the game. This is a big week for Kellen Clemens. He didn't play great last week and has left me less then impressed in his two starts since being named starter. Clemens will be able to pass on this Cowboy defense. He doesn't have Coles in this game, which is a huge loss, but look for Jericho Cotchery to return to form. I think you'll see Clemens go down field to Cotchery and MCarins a lot. That's the only way the Jets can win this game. If they exploit the Cowboy secondary, which is the week point of that defense, they can stay in this one into the fourth quarter. A few big questions will determine if this one is close by the time the pumpkin pie is on the table..... Question 1: Does the offense have enough fire power without Coles to establish an effective passing game? That's a big one. If Brad Smith starts dropping passes like he has in the last two games, Clemens should treat him like a 4th option (which is, oh by the way, what he is). Question 2: Can Thomas Jones sustain what he started last week? I think he'll be able to if he gets enough carries. The magic number is 25. If Jones gets 25 carries, he'll have a big impact on the game. If he gets his normal 12-17, you'll forget that he's on the field. Question 3: Can the defense continue this sudden surge of excellence? Excellence is not a term that I thought I'd ever be using to describe the Jets defense. But you can't get around the fact that they were just that last week against a pretty good Pittsburgh team. Dwayne Robertson played the best game of his entire career and that's no exaggeration. Now, Tony Romo is one of the more mobile quarterbacks in the NFL and if you saw that Giants game two weeks ago you know that he can ruin even the best of defenses. The Jets did a great job with Rothlesberger last week and he's no stiff ,but it's going to be a lot to ask of the Jets to contain that passing game. Maybe too much. Question 4: Can they contain T.O? I think the only think you can do with T.O is try and limit his production. I really don't see how this secondary can do that. It's way to young to be effective against a guy like T.O. Somehow, I don't see Darelle Revis, as good as he may be one day, shutting Owens down. And if your asking Kerry Rhodes to carry the load in that department, I think it'll be a disappointing day. The only way to control Owens is to control the time that Romo gets to throw to him. That means pressure constantly. Again, it'll go back to whether or not the defensive line can do what they did against Pittsburgh.
It'll be a shootout for three quarters, but the Jets will show their true offensive colors when it counts and fall short. Cowboys- 35 Jets- 24.
Detroit/Green Bay- Wow! a truly meaningful game on Thanksgiving. and in Detroit no less! I don't think anyone could have predicted that this one would pit the NFC's second best team (the Pack, if your keeping score) and a team that's fighting for it's playoff life (DETROIT!). If anything, any rational person would have said six months ago that the Jet/Cowboy game would be the best match up of the day (hence the 4:15 start). The Lions, who haven't been good since Davie Crockett was king of the old frontier, are an interesting team this year. But, like every overachieving team does this time of year, they are beginning to show signs of being more of a paper lion (that was for all you George Plimpton enthusiasts out their). While Jon Kitna led the league in yardage last week, he also led the league in stupidity. Both in his late game decisions and his post-game commentary on the matter. The Packers are the second best passing team in the league. They trail the juggernaut that is the New England Patriots by only 15 yards. Two weeks ago, the Pack, not the Pats, were the best passing team in the NFL. That in itself is remarkable. The last two weeks the Packers have also found a way to run the football, which only adds to their arsenal. The defense isn't too bad either. Green Bay is 12th against the pass. The Lions don't run the ball all that much so that should bode well for the Pack. I don't see the Lions having much of a chance in this one. The Lions ship is sinking. Packers-30 Lions-14
Indianapolis/Atlanta- This is one of those "what else are you going to do?" games. It's Thanksgiving Night. You will have just arrived home or ushered your guest out the door and there will be nothing left to do but turn on the final game of the day and let the tryptophane work its magic. That lovely chemical will be helped by what will no doubt be the worst game of the day, if not the year. The Colts are still real good and angry and the Falcons are awful. After a 7-0 start, the Colts are now 8-2. For those of you who are struggling with the math, that's 1-2 in their last three. Indy is terribly banged up and it shows. But you can be sure that Peyton Manning will have non of this "we're hurt" business. He didn't have a touchdown pass last week for the first time in ages. He'll make up for that big time this week. The Falcons are ranked eighth is passing defense, but I still don't think that will make much of a difference.
If their was ever a game that I was looking forward to for a reason other then the game itself, it's this one. Being in media, I am always interested in new and exciting things. Last year NFL Networks coverage was new, but hardly exciting. Bryant Gumbel made an absolute fool of himself on many occasions. I would sit their and cringe in embarrassment after Gumbel said something that was completely ridiculous. It may sound like I'm joking, but I'm not- I want to see if Bryant Gumbel has learned the NFL rulebook yet. This is my main interest in this game. Plus, what else are you going watch?...........Colts- 38 Falcons-10
Fourth Down with Mike T, Anthony DeFranco, and I airs at a special time tomorrow, 11am only on mywcwp.com.
- Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge: Monday 9-10pm, Fourth Down: Friday 9-10 pm only on mywcwp.com
Jets/Cowboys: I have been waiting my entire life for the Jets to play on Thanksgiving Day. I know it's kind of a lame wish to have, but I've always thought that watching my favorite sports franchise play on one of my favorite days on the calender would be cool. When I found out in March that the Jets were headed to Dallas for a Thanksgiving contest, I was overwhelmed with excitement. At 2-8, I'm not so sure it'll be as fun as I had hoped. However, I'm not convinced that this will be the blow out everyone seems to think it'll be. Sure, the Cowboys are the best team in the NFC and have an offense that would make the better defensive teams in the league concerned. Sure, the Jets have no real "defensive presence" to speak of, but I see this one being close for most of the game. This is a big week for Kellen Clemens. He didn't play great last week and has left me less then impressed in his two starts since being named starter. Clemens will be able to pass on this Cowboy defense. He doesn't have Coles in this game, which is a huge loss, but look for Jericho Cotchery to return to form. I think you'll see Clemens go down field to Cotchery and MCarins a lot. That's the only way the Jets can win this game. If they exploit the Cowboy secondary, which is the week point of that defense, they can stay in this one into the fourth quarter. A few big questions will determine if this one is close by the time the pumpkin pie is on the table..... Question 1: Does the offense have enough fire power without Coles to establish an effective passing game? That's a big one. If Brad Smith starts dropping passes like he has in the last two games, Clemens should treat him like a 4th option (which is, oh by the way, what he is). Question 2: Can Thomas Jones sustain what he started last week? I think he'll be able to if he gets enough carries. The magic number is 25. If Jones gets 25 carries, he'll have a big impact on the game. If he gets his normal 12-17, you'll forget that he's on the field. Question 3: Can the defense continue this sudden surge of excellence? Excellence is not a term that I thought I'd ever be using to describe the Jets defense. But you can't get around the fact that they were just that last week against a pretty good Pittsburgh team. Dwayne Robertson played the best game of his entire career and that's no exaggeration. Now, Tony Romo is one of the more mobile quarterbacks in the NFL and if you saw that Giants game two weeks ago you know that he can ruin even the best of defenses. The Jets did a great job with Rothlesberger last week and he's no stiff ,but it's going to be a lot to ask of the Jets to contain that passing game. Maybe too much. Question 4: Can they contain T.O? I think the only think you can do with T.O is try and limit his production. I really don't see how this secondary can do that. It's way to young to be effective against a guy like T.O. Somehow, I don't see Darelle Revis, as good as he may be one day, shutting Owens down. And if your asking Kerry Rhodes to carry the load in that department, I think it'll be a disappointing day. The only way to control Owens is to control the time that Romo gets to throw to him. That means pressure constantly. Again, it'll go back to whether or not the defensive line can do what they did against Pittsburgh.
It'll be a shootout for three quarters, but the Jets will show their true offensive colors when it counts and fall short. Cowboys- 35 Jets- 24.
Detroit/Green Bay- Wow! a truly meaningful game on Thanksgiving. and in Detroit no less! I don't think anyone could have predicted that this one would pit the NFC's second best team (the Pack, if your keeping score) and a team that's fighting for it's playoff life (DETROIT!). If anything, any rational person would have said six months ago that the Jet/Cowboy game would be the best match up of the day (hence the 4:15 start). The Lions, who haven't been good since Davie Crockett was king of the old frontier, are an interesting team this year. But, like every overachieving team does this time of year, they are beginning to show signs of being more of a paper lion (that was for all you George Plimpton enthusiasts out their). While Jon Kitna led the league in yardage last week, he also led the league in stupidity. Both in his late game decisions and his post-game commentary on the matter. The Packers are the second best passing team in the league. They trail the juggernaut that is the New England Patriots by only 15 yards. Two weeks ago, the Pack, not the Pats, were the best passing team in the NFL. That in itself is remarkable. The last two weeks the Packers have also found a way to run the football, which only adds to their arsenal. The defense isn't too bad either. Green Bay is 12th against the pass. The Lions don't run the ball all that much so that should bode well for the Pack. I don't see the Lions having much of a chance in this one. The Lions ship is sinking. Packers-30 Lions-14
Indianapolis/Atlanta- This is one of those "what else are you going to do?" games. It's Thanksgiving Night. You will have just arrived home or ushered your guest out the door and there will be nothing left to do but turn on the final game of the day and let the tryptophane work its magic. That lovely chemical will be helped by what will no doubt be the worst game of the day, if not the year. The Colts are still real good and angry and the Falcons are awful. After a 7-0 start, the Colts are now 8-2. For those of you who are struggling with the math, that's 1-2 in their last three. Indy is terribly banged up and it shows. But you can be sure that Peyton Manning will have non of this "we're hurt" business. He didn't have a touchdown pass last week for the first time in ages. He'll make up for that big time this week. The Falcons are ranked eighth is passing defense, but I still don't think that will make much of a difference.
If their was ever a game that I was looking forward to for a reason other then the game itself, it's this one. Being in media, I am always interested in new and exciting things. Last year NFL Networks coverage was new, but hardly exciting. Bryant Gumbel made an absolute fool of himself on many occasions. I would sit their and cringe in embarrassment after Gumbel said something that was completely ridiculous. It may sound like I'm joking, but I'm not- I want to see if Bryant Gumbel has learned the NFL rulebook yet. This is my main interest in this game. Plus, what else are you going watch?...........Colts- 38 Falcons-10
Fourth Down with Mike T, Anthony DeFranco, and I airs at a special time tomorrow, 11am only on mywcwp.com.
- Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge: Monday 9-10pm, Fourth Down: Friday 9-10 pm only on mywcwp.com
Monday, November 19, 2007
Guest tonight on the Edge
Great Edge tonight. Gary D'amato will be on from the Milwakkee Journal Sentenial to talk some Packers. Tune it at 9 only on mywcwp.com
Also get the podcast tommorow at theedgeonwcwp.mypodcast.com
Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge Monday 9-10pm on mywcwp.com and 10-11pm on 88.1fm wcwp
Also get the podcast tommorow at theedgeonwcwp.mypodcast.com
Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge Monday 9-10pm on mywcwp.com and 10-11pm on 88.1fm wcwp
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Flying with the Jets: So this is what winning feels like!
Well I must be dreaming. Notre Dame and the Jets.....in the same weekend! In what I have time and time again called the worst football season of my entire life, I finally got a reprieve from the horrid visuals that I have been forced to watch over the last three months. The last few weekends have been downright awful for me. But this weekend was different. This weekend the scent of victory was in the air. and yes, it does smell sweet. But lets not get ahead of ourselves here, Notre Dame beat Duke. I mean, I think Malone, Tramontozzi, Croft, DeFranco, and I could hold our own against the Duke squad. It sure felt good- but not as good as a win against say, any other team in the entire country would. But lets not get picky. 2-9 is better then 1-10. And with the new #1 recruiting class coming in, I think Weiss and his guys will turn this sunk ship around real soon. Can you say BCS birth in '09?.......maybe I'm being a bit ridiculous but stranger things have happened in this game of College Football. But that's for another blog (my Notre Dame wrap up, in fact-coming next week after the Stanford game).
The real order of business today is the Jets victory over a team that I wrote just a week ago was on the same level as the Colts- the Pittsburgh Steelers. First off, that statement was premature. The Steelers are not as good as the Colts. I must have gotten a little too excited after the Browns victory last week. They looked painfully ordinary today. Now, I'm not going to go all Adam Schein on you and say that this team may be looking toward the playoffs as soon as next season. I don't know that at this point you can say that. Call me on that in three weeks. But I will say this, that defense looks real good. It's still making some mistakes due to the youth on the squad, but you can really see the potential this defense has. David Harris led the troupes again with seven tackles and one sack. He just get better every week. This could be because of the simple fact that he fits the defensive system far better then Vilma ever could. The presence of Harris is beginning to be felt on the field. It wont be long before teams are bookmarking this guy on game film and deviseing offensive schemes because they are afraid of what Harris can do. That's what you want in a defensive player. The Jets are quite lucky because, on top of Harris, they have another player that other teams will soon be specifically scheming against- Darrelle Revis. From the moment he stepped on the field in game three of the preseason against the Giants, it was evident that Revis would be an exciting young player in this league. Six Tackles today and well on his way to being a really good NFL cornerback. Shut down corners are hard to find. If Revis is not considered a shutdown corner in 3-4 years, he'll be close.
How about this defensive line? Finally making some noise in the trenches. Rothlisberger was sacked seven times today. Now not all of those sacks came from defensive lineman, but they were a product of constant pressure by a unit that has been virtually non-existent up to this point. My favorite defensive line stat today? 2.5 sacks from Dwayne Robertson. Dwayne Robertson! Finally! Before today Robertson had 34 tackles and half a sack. I know he's playing out of position but lets be honest here folks, he's been awful. The entire D-line has been awful. They were downright effective today and the Jets won the football game. Coincidence? I don't think so
Was the offense as a whole tremendously impressive today? No. But just like the defense, you could see a definite difference between the games before the bye week and the game today. It starts and ends with both lines. The formula is simple. 30 carries + 100 or more yards= VICTORY. That's what they got from Thomas Jones. 30 carries and 117 yards. Too often this season, Mangini and his offensive cohorts have abandoned the run game way early. Too often this year Jones has ended the game with between 14 and 18 carries. When your feature running back gets between 14 and 18 carries a game, you usually don't win. The Jets have a 2-8 record to prove that point. But today we saw the Jones that the Jets traded for. The Jones that, if used properly, can single handedly carry an offense. Did Clemens play great today? No. Clemens has yet to do something that has made me go "Wow! I'm glad Mangini made the switch" Now I was for the switch when it happened and I continue to support it, but 14 of 31 for 162 yards and a TD is no better then what that position was producing when good old number 10 was under center. Clemens seems to have the 20s disease that has plagued this team all season. That affliction being that he plays very well in between the 20s but can't find anyway to get it in the end zone. This game was won by the defense and Thomas Jones. Today proves what football people have been saying for as long as anyone can remember. Running effectively wins games. The Jets ran the ball effectively and won the game.
I could go on another 500 words or so about things I thought Mangini did today that were just plain dumb. The Jets won today in spite of their coach, not because of him. But that's for another day. Another blog. I have never been a proponent of having fun being a spoiler. I will say this though, watching Ben Rothlisberger walk off that field today with a grimice on his face brought a smile to mine. They may be 2-8, but the wrath of The Jets lives on.
Of course, We only get to enjoy this until Thursday when the Jets visit Dallas to take on a Cowboy team that is, at worst, just a little bit better then the Steelers. Should be a tough one. One that's going to be real difficult to win. But the Jets play a style of football that doesn't allow them to get blown out. Early pick: Cowboys 35 Jets 24
Good Edge tomorrow night. We got Lions/Giants and Jets/Steelers reaction plus all the news and notes from around the NFL. See you tomorrow at 9pm on www.mywcwp.com and at 10pm on 88.1 fm- WCWP.
- Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge- Mondays 9-10 on mywcwp.com and 10-11 on 88.1fm WCWP.
The real order of business today is the Jets victory over a team that I wrote just a week ago was on the same level as the Colts- the Pittsburgh Steelers. First off, that statement was premature. The Steelers are not as good as the Colts. I must have gotten a little too excited after the Browns victory last week. They looked painfully ordinary today. Now, I'm not going to go all Adam Schein on you and say that this team may be looking toward the playoffs as soon as next season. I don't know that at this point you can say that. Call me on that in three weeks. But I will say this, that defense looks real good. It's still making some mistakes due to the youth on the squad, but you can really see the potential this defense has. David Harris led the troupes again with seven tackles and one sack. He just get better every week. This could be because of the simple fact that he fits the defensive system far better then Vilma ever could. The presence of Harris is beginning to be felt on the field. It wont be long before teams are bookmarking this guy on game film and deviseing offensive schemes because they are afraid of what Harris can do. That's what you want in a defensive player. The Jets are quite lucky because, on top of Harris, they have another player that other teams will soon be specifically scheming against- Darrelle Revis. From the moment he stepped on the field in game three of the preseason against the Giants, it was evident that Revis would be an exciting young player in this league. Six Tackles today and well on his way to being a really good NFL cornerback. Shut down corners are hard to find. If Revis is not considered a shutdown corner in 3-4 years, he'll be close.
How about this defensive line? Finally making some noise in the trenches. Rothlisberger was sacked seven times today. Now not all of those sacks came from defensive lineman, but they were a product of constant pressure by a unit that has been virtually non-existent up to this point. My favorite defensive line stat today? 2.5 sacks from Dwayne Robertson. Dwayne Robertson! Finally! Before today Robertson had 34 tackles and half a sack. I know he's playing out of position but lets be honest here folks, he's been awful. The entire D-line has been awful. They were downright effective today and the Jets won the football game. Coincidence? I don't think so
Was the offense as a whole tremendously impressive today? No. But just like the defense, you could see a definite difference between the games before the bye week and the game today. It starts and ends with both lines. The formula is simple. 30 carries + 100 or more yards= VICTORY. That's what they got from Thomas Jones. 30 carries and 117 yards. Too often this season, Mangini and his offensive cohorts have abandoned the run game way early. Too often this year Jones has ended the game with between 14 and 18 carries. When your feature running back gets between 14 and 18 carries a game, you usually don't win. The Jets have a 2-8 record to prove that point. But today we saw the Jones that the Jets traded for. The Jones that, if used properly, can single handedly carry an offense. Did Clemens play great today? No. Clemens has yet to do something that has made me go "Wow! I'm glad Mangini made the switch" Now I was for the switch when it happened and I continue to support it, but 14 of 31 for 162 yards and a TD is no better then what that position was producing when good old number 10 was under center. Clemens seems to have the 20s disease that has plagued this team all season. That affliction being that he plays very well in between the 20s but can't find anyway to get it in the end zone. This game was won by the defense and Thomas Jones. Today proves what football people have been saying for as long as anyone can remember. Running effectively wins games. The Jets ran the ball effectively and won the game.
I could go on another 500 words or so about things I thought Mangini did today that were just plain dumb. The Jets won today in spite of their coach, not because of him. But that's for another day. Another blog. I have never been a proponent of having fun being a spoiler. I will say this though, watching Ben Rothlisberger walk off that field today with a grimice on his face brought a smile to mine. They may be 2-8, but the wrath of The Jets lives on.
Of course, We only get to enjoy this until Thursday when the Jets visit Dallas to take on a Cowboy team that is, at worst, just a little bit better then the Steelers. Should be a tough one. One that's going to be real difficult to win. But the Jets play a style of football that doesn't allow them to get blown out. Early pick: Cowboys 35 Jets 24
Good Edge tomorrow night. We got Lions/Giants and Jets/Steelers reaction plus all the news and notes from around the NFL. See you tomorrow at 9pm on www.mywcwp.com and at 10pm on 88.1 fm- WCWP.
- Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge- Mondays 9-10 on mywcwp.com and 10-11 on 88.1fm WCWP.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
MLB Offseason 2007: A-Rod and Boras look to cash in, but should be ready to cash down
When Alex Rodriguez opted out of his record-breaking 10-year, $252 million dollar contract during game 4 of the World Series, we all knew the reason why.
Money.
Not because the Yankees fans had treated him poorly during his tenure.
Not because he felt he'd have a better chance of reaching the world series elsewhere.
And definitely not because he was worried about the team's direction with Pettite's, Posada's and Rivera's futures being unclear.
Money.
He left because of money, and before any real discussion about his future can be had, all doubt about that needs to be eliminated. He's looking for the next big payday, and he knew that if he waited until age 36(his age at the end of his current deal, had he stayed through his contract), that payday wouldn't come. So we know that he and Boras made their move to cash in... but now the question becomes: Will they?
I know what you're thinking. Of course A-Rod and Boras will cash in. It's Alex Rodriguez, after all, maybe the best player in the history of the game. It's Scott Boras, after all, maybe the best agent of the modern era. But after all of the after alls, it comes down to this: A-Rod and Boras will cash in... but it might not be the history-making contract they're thinking about. Let's look at the teams with the highest payrolls in the MLB, who could realistically afford A-Rod..
1. New York Yankees(2007 Payroll: $195, 229, 045)
- Yes the Yankees come first, but there's very little to say. Both Brian Cashman and Hank Steinbrenner said the Yankees will not negotiate with Alex Rodriguez if he opted out, and despite my belief that they should at least keep their ears open(more on that later), I believe them. The team most likely to give A-Rod that NEW record-shattering deal will not do it, so it's time to move on.
2. Boston Red Sox(2007 Payroll: $143, 526, 214)
- Of course, there's no doubt that the Red Sox can afford A-Rod. The truth? They don't need him, nor do I think they want him. Manager Terry Francona has been given credit for letting his team play loose and have fun. Those are two things A-Rod doesn't do. Not to mention this team just won a World Series with Mike Lowell who was the Series MVP no less. Despite that there's just 2 days until the free agency period, I believe the Red Sox intend on resigning Lowell and right now, maybe for even the next 2 seasons, that works for them. They have an excellent young pitching staff and ultimately, that is where there continued efforts(and their money) will go - and who can blame them when the Yankess just proved that A-Rod is meaningless without the pitching to carry you through the postseason?
3. New York Mets(2007 Payroll: $117, 915, 819)
- Finally, we come to a truly possible candidate, right? After all, this was the team that A-Rod wanted to play for in 2000, and now the team has the chance to correct the mistake of former GM Steve Phillips, right? Wrong. Look at the 2007 Mets heading into the offseason. They just went through the greatest September collapse in history, and it was due to a combination of sub-par pitching and an unreliable offense. But does this team need another offensive powerhouse with nowhere to play more than they need to fill some holes? Is it really worth spending likely the entirety of their free agent budget on one third basemen, when what they really need is not one but two starting pitchers?
The Mets already needed a frontline starter going into this season, and with Glavine 99.9999% gone, now they need two. If you count Martinez as a 2(and that's if he's healthy and anything like the Pedro from 2005 and 2006), Maine as a 3 and Perez as a 4, the Mets still need a true ace and someone to round out the back end of the rotation(that second cog is even more important than before, as Maine and Perez have proven, for now, that they'll have shaky periods now and again). They also need a right fielder unless the team changes it's mind and has Carlos Gomez or Lastings Milledge start. Not to mention that Luis Castillo will miss a good chunk of the 08' campaign, so they need a second basemen as well. Add in that Paul Lo Duca is likely finished as a Met and the team seems to not want to start Ramon Castro - and you have a lot of pieces the Mets need before they worry about adding someone like A-Rod to the mix. Since the Mets don't have nearly enough prospects to get all those cogs by trade(although if the Astros will take a package centered on Gomez or Minor League standout Fernando Martinez for Roy Oswalt, the Mets will make that deal), most of GM Omar Minaya's funds will need to go to players the team needs, not one player who doesn't actually solve any problems for them.
4. Chicago White Sox(2007 Payroll: $109, 680, 167)
- I list the White Sox here, but only because they have the fourth highest payroll and deserve the mention. Virtually zero mention has been made of the White Sox' chances to land A-Rod, and that's because they won't. It has nothing to do with what he could do for them or their feelings on him as a player, neither of which are in dispute. But why would a team already faced with choosing between two viable third basemen(2005 World Series hero Joe Crede and upcoming phenom Josh Fields) add a third to the mix? The only way A-Rod makes it to Chicago(at least, THIS Chicago) is if Crede and Fields are dealt, and GM Kenny Williams will not part with both of his solid(and cheaper) options. Crede may indeed wind up going somewhere for a center-fielder/leadoff hitter, but if that happens Fields is going nowhere. If they decide to keep Crede, Fields will be dealt for the same reason or maybe for starting pitching. They wouldn't deal both and have to pay a center fielder(possibly Damon, though not likely) AND whatever starter they'd get for Fields and THEN also pay A-Rod's salary, which is basically guaranteed to be north of 30 million dollars a year. Kenny Williams likes to make a splash - but not a stupid one.
5. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2007 Payroll: $109, 251, 333)
- Most experts believe that when you talk about the Angels, you're talking about A-Rod's home for the 2008 season and beyond. And it seems like a good fit. The Angels have the money and Arte Moreno is ready to spend some big bucks to acquire another big bat. Not to mention that the entire Angels roster is versatile, with most of the position players being gifted at multiple positions. So, third base is wide open for Rodriguez to swoop right down, claim his money and start fielding for LA. Of course, the Angels are also a frontrunner to land Miguel Cabrera. The Marlins have told the Angels that any trade for Cabrera will have to involve Angels second basemen Howie Kendrick. If the Angels do that trade, the ultra-versatile Chone Figgins can move back over to second base to make room for Cabrera at 3rd.
So if you're the Angels, what do you do? If they re-sign Bartolo Colon(their only free agent for those keep score) and THEN sign A-Rod, their payroll will skyrocket to over $140 million dollars. But if you could get Cabrera through trade, you'll get similar power with a far lower price tag(at least for now). The catch? The Angels will want the ability to make sure they can sign Cabrera to a multiple-year deal before they'll trade him, which means the Marlins will need to allow them 24 hours top negotiate with the young slugger before a deal is reached. If that falls through, the Angels are the prime choice to land A-Rod but they will fully explore Cabrera first.
6. Los Angeles Dodgers (2007 Payroll: $108,454,524)
Money.
Not because the Yankees fans had treated him poorly during his tenure.
Not because he felt he'd have a better chance of reaching the world series elsewhere.
And definitely not because he was worried about the team's direction with Pettite's, Posada's and Rivera's futures being unclear.
Money.
He left because of money, and before any real discussion about his future can be had, all doubt about that needs to be eliminated. He's looking for the next big payday, and he knew that if he waited until age 36(his age at the end of his current deal, had he stayed through his contract), that payday wouldn't come. So we know that he and Boras made their move to cash in... but now the question becomes: Will they?
I know what you're thinking. Of course A-Rod and Boras will cash in. It's Alex Rodriguez, after all, maybe the best player in the history of the game. It's Scott Boras, after all, maybe the best agent of the modern era. But after all of the after alls, it comes down to this: A-Rod and Boras will cash in... but it might not be the history-making contract they're thinking about. Let's look at the teams with the highest payrolls in the MLB, who could realistically afford A-Rod..
1. New York Yankees(2007 Payroll: $195, 229, 045)
- Yes the Yankees come first, but there's very little to say. Both Brian Cashman and Hank Steinbrenner said the Yankees will not negotiate with Alex Rodriguez if he opted out, and despite my belief that they should at least keep their ears open(more on that later), I believe them. The team most likely to give A-Rod that NEW record-shattering deal will not do it, so it's time to move on.
2. Boston Red Sox(2007 Payroll: $143, 526, 214)
- Of course, there's no doubt that the Red Sox can afford A-Rod. The truth? They don't need him, nor do I think they want him. Manager Terry Francona has been given credit for letting his team play loose and have fun. Those are two things A-Rod doesn't do. Not to mention this team just won a World Series with Mike Lowell who was the Series MVP no less. Despite that there's just 2 days until the free agency period, I believe the Red Sox intend on resigning Lowell and right now, maybe for even the next 2 seasons, that works for them. They have an excellent young pitching staff and ultimately, that is where there continued efforts(and their money) will go - and who can blame them when the Yankess just proved that A-Rod is meaningless without the pitching to carry you through the postseason?
3. New York Mets(2007 Payroll: $117, 915, 819)
- Finally, we come to a truly possible candidate, right? After all, this was the team that A-Rod wanted to play for in 2000, and now the team has the chance to correct the mistake of former GM Steve Phillips, right? Wrong. Look at the 2007 Mets heading into the offseason. They just went through the greatest September collapse in history, and it was due to a combination of sub-par pitching and an unreliable offense. But does this team need another offensive powerhouse with nowhere to play more than they need to fill some holes? Is it really worth spending likely the entirety of their free agent budget on one third basemen, when what they really need is not one but two starting pitchers?
The Mets already needed a frontline starter going into this season, and with Glavine 99.9999% gone, now they need two. If you count Martinez as a 2(and that's if he's healthy and anything like the Pedro from 2005 and 2006), Maine as a 3 and Perez as a 4, the Mets still need a true ace and someone to round out the back end of the rotation(that second cog is even more important than before, as Maine and Perez have proven, for now, that they'll have shaky periods now and again). They also need a right fielder unless the team changes it's mind and has Carlos Gomez or Lastings Milledge start. Not to mention that Luis Castillo will miss a good chunk of the 08' campaign, so they need a second basemen as well. Add in that Paul Lo Duca is likely finished as a Met and the team seems to not want to start Ramon Castro - and you have a lot of pieces the Mets need before they worry about adding someone like A-Rod to the mix. Since the Mets don't have nearly enough prospects to get all those cogs by trade(although if the Astros will take a package centered on Gomez or Minor League standout Fernando Martinez for Roy Oswalt, the Mets will make that deal), most of GM Omar Minaya's funds will need to go to players the team needs, not one player who doesn't actually solve any problems for them.
4. Chicago White Sox(2007 Payroll: $109, 680, 167)
- I list the White Sox here, but only because they have the fourth highest payroll and deserve the mention. Virtually zero mention has been made of the White Sox' chances to land A-Rod, and that's because they won't. It has nothing to do with what he could do for them or their feelings on him as a player, neither of which are in dispute. But why would a team already faced with choosing between two viable third basemen(2005 World Series hero Joe Crede and upcoming phenom Josh Fields) add a third to the mix? The only way A-Rod makes it to Chicago(at least, THIS Chicago) is if Crede and Fields are dealt, and GM Kenny Williams will not part with both of his solid(and cheaper) options. Crede may indeed wind up going somewhere for a center-fielder/leadoff hitter, but if that happens Fields is going nowhere. If they decide to keep Crede, Fields will be dealt for the same reason or maybe for starting pitching. They wouldn't deal both and have to pay a center fielder(possibly Damon, though not likely) AND whatever starter they'd get for Fields and THEN also pay A-Rod's salary, which is basically guaranteed to be north of 30 million dollars a year. Kenny Williams likes to make a splash - but not a stupid one.
5. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2007 Payroll: $109, 251, 333)
- Most experts believe that when you talk about the Angels, you're talking about A-Rod's home for the 2008 season and beyond. And it seems like a good fit. The Angels have the money and Arte Moreno is ready to spend some big bucks to acquire another big bat. Not to mention that the entire Angels roster is versatile, with most of the position players being gifted at multiple positions. So, third base is wide open for Rodriguez to swoop right down, claim his money and start fielding for LA. Of course, the Angels are also a frontrunner to land Miguel Cabrera. The Marlins have told the Angels that any trade for Cabrera will have to involve Angels second basemen Howie Kendrick. If the Angels do that trade, the ultra-versatile Chone Figgins can move back over to second base to make room for Cabrera at 3rd.
So if you're the Angels, what do you do? If they re-sign Bartolo Colon(their only free agent for those keep score) and THEN sign A-Rod, their payroll will skyrocket to over $140 million dollars. But if you could get Cabrera through trade, you'll get similar power with a far lower price tag(at least for now). The catch? The Angels will want the ability to make sure they can sign Cabrera to a multiple-year deal before they'll trade him, which means the Marlins will need to allow them 24 hours top negotiate with the young slugger before a deal is reached. If that falls through, the Angels are the prime choice to land A-Rod but they will fully explore Cabrera first.
6. Los Angeles Dodgers (2007 Payroll: $108,454,524)
- Before we get too much into the logistics, there's one major factor we need to consider. The Dodgers just signed former Yankees skipper Joe Torre to manage their club for the next 3 years. While in New York, Torre had very little choice to pick what players he wanted. Those calls were mostly left up to Cashman, with owner George Steinbrenner stepping in for some high-profile deals. In LA, Torre's voice will undoubtedly carry more weight. If the McCourts and GM Ned Coletti DON'T listen to Torre, people may question their desire to win. That being said, if Torre wants A-Rod in LA... there's a good chance Torre will get A-Rod in LA.
Of course, we don't know if Torre wants A-Rod on his team. Logic dictates you want the best player available at each position, and there's no doubt, at least offensively, who the best third basemen in the MLB is. Torre also had an interview with ESPN.com where he stated that he and Alex got along much better towards the end of their run. So Torre is saying all the right things to setup the Dodgers to land Alex Rodrigues... but will they, even if Joe sincerely wants him there?
Here's the chief obstacle the Dodgers have to overcome: they don't have the room for A-Rod in their infield. Shortstop Rafael Furcal and Third Basemen Nomar Garciaparra are signed to guaranteed deals for the 2008 season. Jeff Kent plays second and is likely to have his 2008 option picked up by the team. Now, it's true that Nomar can also play first base, but that spot looks to be going to James Loney, who came up through the club's farm system at the end of the 2006 season. Loney batted .331 with 15 homers and 67 RBI over 96 games in 2007. Expanded to a full 162 games, that'd be about 25 homers and 110 RBI - impressive numbers, way above Nomar's projections had he played a full season - 10 homers and 80 RBI, with a .283 average to boot.
Obviously, the Dodgers would love to move Nomar. They'd open up third base and shave about 9 million dollars from the payroll - money they could use to acquire A-Rod. Except that Garciaparra has a full no-trade clause. Unless the Dodgers can convince him he has a brighter future in LA, he's not going anywhere. Otherwise, they'd either have to decline Kent's option and ask Nomar, Furcal or Rodriguez to play second(not likely) or deny Loney a full time spot(even less likely). I doubt when the Dodgers signed Garciaparra to a 2-year deal last winter they didn't anticipate such problems with their infield setup. Last year, the team was forced to trade Cezar Izturis because they had no room for him, this year, it could also be the reason they don't land A-Rod.
7. San Francisco Giants (2007 Payroll: $ 90,219,056)
- The first thing that must be coming into your head is: Wait, the Giants aren't 7th in payroll in the MLB, are they? Nope, they're 11th But the remaining clubs(the Mariners, Cubs, Tigers, Orioles and Cardinals) either have third basemen they don't intend to part with(Seattle's Adrian Beltre and Chicago's Aramis Ramirez), aren't willing to spend that kind of money(the Tigers and Cardinals) or have so much work to do that buying a $32 million dollar man looking to cash in and win a World Series is not an option for either side(Orioles). In fact, only the Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Mets and Giants are the only teams that haven't denied interest in A-Rod. The White Sox have denied interest but are on this list because Kenny Williams is that unpredictable a GM. The Yankees have denied interest but they're here cause at the end of the day they're the team most able to give A-Rod the payday he wants.
So why don't I think the Giants will spring for A-Rod? Simple because team management has stated that with the departure of Barry Bonds, the team would like to spend their money a little more evenly. They'll need a new left fielder as well as another starter and bullpen help, plus in doing all that they'd like to get younger. That's going to take some work from GM Brian Sabean and after finishing last in the NL West this year, plus giving big money to Barry Zito last offseason, I believe Sabean's goal is to improve the overall team rather than just third base.
So what did we actually learn? Simply this: For A-Rod to get another record shattering contract, he'll depend on teams to drive up his asking price. I count out the Giants, simply because I truly believe they'll spread their funds evenly. I'll believe the Yankees for now, and assume they're out of it. If the Red Sox resign Lowell, and either the Dodgers or Mets can't shuffle their infields, you're down to just the Angels and the White Sox(who have denied interest and also have the aforementioned logjam at third base). It takes more than 1 team to drive up a contract.
So my prediction? A-Rod will sign with the Angels for (approximately) six years and $180 million dollars. He'll get paid the highest salary per year in baseball history, but his new contract won't turn heads as much as the old one did, and this writer does not believe he stands a chance of landing the 10 year, $350 million dollar contract that Boras has on the table. If the Angels are the only ones at the negotiating table, then they'll be the ones calling the shots, and A-Rod and Boras had better be ready to cash down.
Before, I said there'd be more on the Yankees. I'd like to say for the record it'd be poetic justice if all six of the teams I listed after the Yankees find other, more sensible options and A-Rod has to go crawling back to New York begging for a job. I'm dreaming of it - and in an offseason where there's third basemen aplenty and teams are thinking about their money a bit more - dreams can happen.
Ken Brenner can be heard on "The Sports Wire" with Sean Croft and Nick Mazzochi every Thursday night from 9pm until 10 pm on MyWCWP.
Of course, we don't know if Torre wants A-Rod on his team. Logic dictates you want the best player available at each position, and there's no doubt, at least offensively, who the best third basemen in the MLB is. Torre also had an interview with ESPN.com where he stated that he and Alex got along much better towards the end of their run. So Torre is saying all the right things to setup the Dodgers to land Alex Rodrigues... but will they, even if Joe sincerely wants him there?
Here's the chief obstacle the Dodgers have to overcome: they don't have the room for A-Rod in their infield. Shortstop Rafael Furcal and Third Basemen Nomar Garciaparra are signed to guaranteed deals for the 2008 season. Jeff Kent plays second and is likely to have his 2008 option picked up by the team. Now, it's true that Nomar can also play first base, but that spot looks to be going to James Loney, who came up through the club's farm system at the end of the 2006 season. Loney batted .331 with 15 homers and 67 RBI over 96 games in 2007. Expanded to a full 162 games, that'd be about 25 homers and 110 RBI - impressive numbers, way above Nomar's projections had he played a full season - 10 homers and 80 RBI, with a .283 average to boot.
Obviously, the Dodgers would love to move Nomar. They'd open up third base and shave about 9 million dollars from the payroll - money they could use to acquire A-Rod. Except that Garciaparra has a full no-trade clause. Unless the Dodgers can convince him he has a brighter future in LA, he's not going anywhere. Otherwise, they'd either have to decline Kent's option and ask Nomar, Furcal or Rodriguez to play second(not likely) or deny Loney a full time spot(even less likely). I doubt when the Dodgers signed Garciaparra to a 2-year deal last winter they didn't anticipate such problems with their infield setup. Last year, the team was forced to trade Cezar Izturis because they had no room for him, this year, it could also be the reason they don't land A-Rod.
7. San Francisco Giants (2007 Payroll: $ 90,219,056)
- The first thing that must be coming into your head is: Wait, the Giants aren't 7th in payroll in the MLB, are they? Nope, they're 11th But the remaining clubs(the Mariners, Cubs, Tigers, Orioles and Cardinals) either have third basemen they don't intend to part with(Seattle's Adrian Beltre and Chicago's Aramis Ramirez), aren't willing to spend that kind of money(the Tigers and Cardinals) or have so much work to do that buying a $32 million dollar man looking to cash in and win a World Series is not an option for either side(Orioles). In fact, only the Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Mets and Giants are the only teams that haven't denied interest in A-Rod. The White Sox have denied interest but are on this list because Kenny Williams is that unpredictable a GM. The Yankees have denied interest but they're here cause at the end of the day they're the team most able to give A-Rod the payday he wants.
So why don't I think the Giants will spring for A-Rod? Simple because team management has stated that with the departure of Barry Bonds, the team would like to spend their money a little more evenly. They'll need a new left fielder as well as another starter and bullpen help, plus in doing all that they'd like to get younger. That's going to take some work from GM Brian Sabean and after finishing last in the NL West this year, plus giving big money to Barry Zito last offseason, I believe Sabean's goal is to improve the overall team rather than just third base.
So what did we actually learn? Simply this: For A-Rod to get another record shattering contract, he'll depend on teams to drive up his asking price. I count out the Giants, simply because I truly believe they'll spread their funds evenly. I'll believe the Yankees for now, and assume they're out of it. If the Red Sox resign Lowell, and either the Dodgers or Mets can't shuffle their infields, you're down to just the Angels and the White Sox(who have denied interest and also have the aforementioned logjam at third base). It takes more than 1 team to drive up a contract.
So my prediction? A-Rod will sign with the Angels for (approximately) six years and $180 million dollars. He'll get paid the highest salary per year in baseball history, but his new contract won't turn heads as much as the old one did, and this writer does not believe he stands a chance of landing the 10 year, $350 million dollar contract that Boras has on the table. If the Angels are the only ones at the negotiating table, then they'll be the ones calling the shots, and A-Rod and Boras had better be ready to cash down.
Before, I said there'd be more on the Yankees. I'd like to say for the record it'd be poetic justice if all six of the teams I listed after the Yankees find other, more sensible options and A-Rod has to go crawling back to New York begging for a job. I'm dreaming of it - and in an offseason where there's third basemen aplenty and teams are thinking about their money a bit more - dreams can happen.
Ken Brenner can be heard on "The Sports Wire" with Sean Croft and Nick Mazzochi every Thursday night from 9pm until 10 pm on MyWCWP.
Flying with the Jets: Bye Week Thoughts
The bye week is always interesting. For some fans, its a week to cool off and take a brake from the Sunday-monopolizing world that is professional football. For most, its a torturous week of jealousy and unrelenting anticipation for the next time they'll see there team play again. For me, its a chance to take a step back from my usual Jet-centric Sunday rutine and look at the rest of the league with a kind of analytical eye that my "Jet-blinders" may otherwise present. It's always a bad thing when your looking forward to a bye week. But at 1-8, us Jet fans don't have much to look forward to (unless you count secretly rooting for the Rams and , dare I say it, the Miami Dolphins). So with that here are some thoughts from the most enjoyable week of football since Week 3 for myself and my Jet-compatriots.
1. The Packers are very good: I wrote last week that it felt like 1996 all over again. Maybe that statement can be reused this week, except instead of using it to describe the 1-8 Jets, I'm using it to describe the 8-1 Pack. Its been mused about for weeks on "The Edge". Are the Packers the second best team in the NFC? I had maintained that they were not. I thought that despite the head to head battle in week 2, the Giants were the best non-Cowboy team in the conference. The Packers were close at number three but I still could not see them beating the Giants if they played again. Now I'm not so sure. I know they don't run the ball as effectively as an 8-1 team probably should. Ryan Grant had 119 yards this week, but that's not been the trend. This team is ranked dead last in the league in rushing. Simple football logic tells us that teams that don't run the ball effectively don't win ball games. Tell that to Brett Farve. Having his best year in what seems to some like forever, Farve is leading the leagues best passing attack. To me that's an even more remarkable statistic then that rushing stat I threw out. In a year where Tom Brady and the Patriots are seemingly rewriting passing record books, it is the Pack that leads everyone under the sun in airing out the pigskin. In there demolishing of the Vikings, Farve had 351 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. His interceptions are down and his enthusiasm is up. Anyone who remembers 1996 knows this: an enthusiastic Brett Farve who keeps his INTs down is a very dangerous thing. Mark this date down- Thursday, November 29th. That is when the Packers visit Dallas to take on the Cowboys in the Game of The Year Part Three. Better hope you have the NFL Network......
2. Big Ben is back: So maybe it was the motorcycle accident. I thought this claim was a bunch of hub-bub when it was floated around last season. How could a motorcycle accident in the summer affect the way a quarterback plays in an entire season? More likely, It seemed to be a case of beginners luck and coming back to earth. Maybe we're seeing that Rothlisberger truly was what we thought he was and that the motorcycle accident had more to do with last season's downturn then I thought it did. If you weren't impressed by how the Steelers man-handled the Ravens on Monday night then you have to be impressed with the way the Steelers came back against a formidable Browns team. Down by 15 at one point, Rothlesberger led the Steelers on a comeback that only good teams make. We saw the moxie that we had not seen from Rothlesberger since the Super Bowl year. This was no more highlighted then on Rothlesberger's TD scramble to put the Steelers up for the first time in the game. The Steelers are now 7-2 and are right with the Colts in the battle for the title of being the best team not named the New England Patriots in the AFC.
3. The Cowboys are the #2 team in the NFL: Well, my Pats/Cowboys Superbowl is looking pretty good. I don't think the score of the game indicated how dominated the Giants were this week. This may not be a popular opinion around Giant-centric WCWP, but I left that game today thinking that the Giants looked painfully ordinary. The problem is that I know that the Giants are a very good team with a very good defense. Tony Romo made a defense that is probably the best in the conference look bad (just like week one). Receivers were wide open. I know that the G-men shut down the run and kudos to them for that, but when you let Terrell Owens catch six balls for 125 yards and two touchdowns, does it really matter that Julius Jones only managed 48 yards? Too many times in this game did Tony Romo look like he could do just about anything and complete a pass. And in regards to Romo, He's pretty good isn't he? 20 of 28, 247 yards, four touchdowns, and only one pick. Any questions? I, for one, am dreading Thanksgiving. I love the Cowboys this year. I think they have the division wrapped up. Now it's time for home field.
4. At 1-8, I love a good bye week. It's the Steelers next week. The angst and loathing will return then.
For more of this and other fun- tune in to The Edge tomorrow night at 9 with Nick Malone, Steve Dedimo, and myself at 9pm(est) only on mywcwp.com .................... and check out the Edge podcast only at theedgeonwcwp.mypodcast.com
-Jordan Lauterbach
1. The Packers are very good: I wrote last week that it felt like 1996 all over again. Maybe that statement can be reused this week, except instead of using it to describe the 1-8 Jets, I'm using it to describe the 8-1 Pack. Its been mused about for weeks on "The Edge". Are the Packers the second best team in the NFC? I had maintained that they were not. I thought that despite the head to head battle in week 2, the Giants were the best non-Cowboy team in the conference. The Packers were close at number three but I still could not see them beating the Giants if they played again. Now I'm not so sure. I know they don't run the ball as effectively as an 8-1 team probably should. Ryan Grant had 119 yards this week, but that's not been the trend. This team is ranked dead last in the league in rushing. Simple football logic tells us that teams that don't run the ball effectively don't win ball games. Tell that to Brett Farve. Having his best year in what seems to some like forever, Farve is leading the leagues best passing attack. To me that's an even more remarkable statistic then that rushing stat I threw out. In a year where Tom Brady and the Patriots are seemingly rewriting passing record books, it is the Pack that leads everyone under the sun in airing out the pigskin. In there demolishing of the Vikings, Farve had 351 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. His interceptions are down and his enthusiasm is up. Anyone who remembers 1996 knows this: an enthusiastic Brett Farve who keeps his INTs down is a very dangerous thing. Mark this date down- Thursday, November 29th. That is when the Packers visit Dallas to take on the Cowboys in the Game of The Year Part Three. Better hope you have the NFL Network......
2. Big Ben is back: So maybe it was the motorcycle accident. I thought this claim was a bunch of hub-bub when it was floated around last season. How could a motorcycle accident in the summer affect the way a quarterback plays in an entire season? More likely, It seemed to be a case of beginners luck and coming back to earth. Maybe we're seeing that Rothlisberger truly was what we thought he was and that the motorcycle accident had more to do with last season's downturn then I thought it did. If you weren't impressed by how the Steelers man-handled the Ravens on Monday night then you have to be impressed with the way the Steelers came back against a formidable Browns team. Down by 15 at one point, Rothlesberger led the Steelers on a comeback that only good teams make. We saw the moxie that we had not seen from Rothlesberger since the Super Bowl year. This was no more highlighted then on Rothlesberger's TD scramble to put the Steelers up for the first time in the game. The Steelers are now 7-2 and are right with the Colts in the battle for the title of being the best team not named the New England Patriots in the AFC.
3. The Cowboys are the #2 team in the NFL: Well, my Pats/Cowboys Superbowl is looking pretty good. I don't think the score of the game indicated how dominated the Giants were this week. This may not be a popular opinion around Giant-centric WCWP, but I left that game today thinking that the Giants looked painfully ordinary. The problem is that I know that the Giants are a very good team with a very good defense. Tony Romo made a defense that is probably the best in the conference look bad (just like week one). Receivers were wide open. I know that the G-men shut down the run and kudos to them for that, but when you let Terrell Owens catch six balls for 125 yards and two touchdowns, does it really matter that Julius Jones only managed 48 yards? Too many times in this game did Tony Romo look like he could do just about anything and complete a pass. And in regards to Romo, He's pretty good isn't he? 20 of 28, 247 yards, four touchdowns, and only one pick. Any questions? I, for one, am dreading Thanksgiving. I love the Cowboys this year. I think they have the division wrapped up. Now it's time for home field.
4. At 1-8, I love a good bye week. It's the Steelers next week. The angst and loathing will return then.
For more of this and other fun- tune in to The Edge tomorrow night at 9 with Nick Malone, Steve Dedimo, and myself at 9pm(est) only on mywcwp.com .................... and check out the Edge podcast only at theedgeonwcwp.mypodcast.com
-Jordan Lauterbach
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Countdown to the NFC's version of "Game of the Year"
In the NFL, some people tend to overemphasize the phrase "big game". Most times the game does not live up to expectations (Thank you Philly for laying a collective egg on sunday night in your "big game") . But last week- even without the nail biting final drive, that Colts- Pats game ahd a feel of a heavyweight fight, jsut two greats trading haymakers. This week, thanks to Dallas' embarrassment of the Eagles, the NFC gets their turn.
Sunday, Nov. 11th, 4:15. Location: Giants Stadium. the Cowboys (7-1) v. the Giants (6-2). The final meeting of the year between two old time rivals. The Cowboys won the first meeting 45-35 in week 1, dismantling a Giants defense that looked like it was playing a scrimmage. The Cowboys have maintained their hot pace, their only loss coming against New England (Again, thanks are in order to Dick Jauron and the Bills- way to go guys. Hope you miss the playoffs by a game).
Dallas will however have to deal with a Giants defense that has found its stride under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, becoming a sack machine and possibly the toughest defense in the league in the last 6 games. Led by Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan, the Giants defense has rekindled thoughts of defenses past- led by Jesse Armstead, Lawrence Taylor or Sam Huff. Their offense isnt too shabby either- putting up three straight 30 point performances before their 13-10 win in London two weeks ago. Eli Manning has found confidence, and Brandon jacobs is becoming that bull of a back everyone expected to see when the team left Albany back in August.
Oh and Plaxico Burress is haivng a pro-bowl caliber year- which doesnt hurt.
Dallas gets more of the media attention, thanks in alrge part to Terrell Owens and Tony Romo. Romo, apparently America's new sensation. Given that he's got a ton of talent, Romo still to me hasnt proved he deserves 67 million dollars or his spot on last years pro bowl team. And everyone knows what Owens is good for, 10 catches and some sportscenter highlights. Yet we have yet to see the real TO- the complainer, throw everyone under the bus to save me- Owens. Hes still there, watch the Buffalo game again. Whos that standing on the sidelines pouting with Dallas down and him with only 2 catches? Why, shockingly it was Owens. Yet when Dallas improbably won, there was Owens, sprinting off the field with a big smile on his face.
Winning apparently cures all. Whether its Owens' attitude or the Giants' chemistry. However, one team will lose. Three matchups must be followed closely though:
1. Dallas' offensive line v. The Giants defensive line- If Dallas cant keep Tony Romo up straight, it will be a long day.
2. Eli Manning and Burress v Dallas' secodnary- Eli torched the secondary in week 1, and hit Burress for three TDs. Something tells me you might see it again.
3. Giants' LineBackers v. Jason Witten- Witten killed the Giants in the middle of the field in week 1. The defense has improved, especially in the secondary, but they must contain Witten to slow down Dallas' offense.
So in the end, the NFC will get their chance to show the national stage their top 2 teams (sorry Green Bay). WIll it live up to the hype? Or will it go the way of so many other "big games"? Im not sure, but one thing I do know is I will be there, Section 111 row 36, screaming my ass off at the biggest game ive been to in 2 years.
- Mike Tramontozzi, Sports Director, WCWP
Sunday, Nov. 11th, 4:15. Location: Giants Stadium. the Cowboys (7-1) v. the Giants (6-2). The final meeting of the year between two old time rivals. The Cowboys won the first meeting 45-35 in week 1, dismantling a Giants defense that looked like it was playing a scrimmage. The Cowboys have maintained their hot pace, their only loss coming against New England (Again, thanks are in order to Dick Jauron and the Bills- way to go guys. Hope you miss the playoffs by a game).
Dallas will however have to deal with a Giants defense that has found its stride under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, becoming a sack machine and possibly the toughest defense in the league in the last 6 games. Led by Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan, the Giants defense has rekindled thoughts of defenses past- led by Jesse Armstead, Lawrence Taylor or Sam Huff. Their offense isnt too shabby either- putting up three straight 30 point performances before their 13-10 win in London two weeks ago. Eli Manning has found confidence, and Brandon jacobs is becoming that bull of a back everyone expected to see when the team left Albany back in August.
Oh and Plaxico Burress is haivng a pro-bowl caliber year- which doesnt hurt.
Dallas gets more of the media attention, thanks in alrge part to Terrell Owens and Tony Romo. Romo, apparently America's new sensation. Given that he's got a ton of talent, Romo still to me hasnt proved he deserves 67 million dollars or his spot on last years pro bowl team. And everyone knows what Owens is good for, 10 catches and some sportscenter highlights. Yet we have yet to see the real TO- the complainer, throw everyone under the bus to save me- Owens. Hes still there, watch the Buffalo game again. Whos that standing on the sidelines pouting with Dallas down and him with only 2 catches? Why, shockingly it was Owens. Yet when Dallas improbably won, there was Owens, sprinting off the field with a big smile on his face.
Winning apparently cures all. Whether its Owens' attitude or the Giants' chemistry. However, one team will lose. Three matchups must be followed closely though:
1. Dallas' offensive line v. The Giants defensive line- If Dallas cant keep Tony Romo up straight, it will be a long day.
2. Eli Manning and Burress v Dallas' secodnary- Eli torched the secondary in week 1, and hit Burress for three TDs. Something tells me you might see it again.
3. Giants' LineBackers v. Jason Witten- Witten killed the Giants in the middle of the field in week 1. The defense has improved, especially in the secondary, but they must contain Witten to slow down Dallas' offense.
So in the end, the NFC will get their chance to show the national stage their top 2 teams (sorry Green Bay). WIll it live up to the hype? Or will it go the way of so many other "big games"? Im not sure, but one thing I do know is I will be there, Section 111 row 36, screaming my ass off at the biggest game ive been to in 2 years.
- Mike Tramontozzi, Sports Director, WCWP
Monday, November 5, 2007
Pageing Mr. Kotite, Mr. Rich Kotite
There are a few things that we Jet fans just don't talk about. 2004 against Pittsburgh. The fake spike. The playoff game against Cleveland. Passing on Dan Marino. Johny Lamb Jones. Being up 10-0 at the half in the 1998 AFC Championship Game.....and 1996. Ironically, 1996 was the first season I remember watching the team that I hold so near and dear to my heart. You could say it was the beginning of this long painful road that has taken me to highs as high as demolishing Peyton Manning and the Colts 41-0 in the 2002 wild card round and lows as low as well, being one half away from the Super Bowl and having sure-handed Curtis Martin treat the football like it had cooties. But at 1-8, the worst start since 1996, The Jets are coming dangerously close to 1996. If you've forgotten, blocked it out, or were not around in 1996, that was the year the Jets went 1-15 under a name that is uttered less in Jet circles then Bill Buckner is in Boston: Rich Kotite. Don't get me wrong, this team is not as bad. But its close. So with that stirling introduction, here are some thoughts on game9 loss 8.
The real reason for above average Jet fan interest in this game was Kellen Clemens. Finally, the guy many Jet fans have wanted all year and I have wanted since the Giant loss made his non-fill-in debut. In a phrase: he was all right. What can you expect from a second year player making his first start after being named the official starting quarterback? (to clarify, he only started in Baltimore because Pennington got hurt). As I expected, he looked less nervous then when he came into the game late last week. He still was forcing some things that weren't there- but not frequent enough for it to be a trend that I was all that concerned about. I was a little concerned about the offense stalling in Redskin territory like it did, but you can't blame Clemens for all of that. A noticeable change was seen in the "zip" on Clemens throws. Compared to Pennington, Clemens looked like Brett Farve. And it seemed to catch the receivers off guard as well. For the second time this season, the recieving core that I think (maybe thought at this point) is so underrated played poorly. Brad Smith dropped two balls. One difficult but catchable and one painfully catchable. Even sure- handed Jericho Cotchery dropped a pass. Makes you wonder about that pass Justin Mcarins dropped in Baltimore, doesn't it? All in all, it was a good first "'permanent start" from Clemens. But with that being said, I think that we also saw yesterday that the offensive struggles this year were not all Chad Pennington's fault. The offense only scored 10 points in the game. Is that any better then its been all year?
Now that Pennington is on the bench, Jet fans can finally see that good ol' number 10 was not the sole reason this team was 1-7 through 8 game. 1-6 in the games he started (0-2 in the ones Clemens started by the way). The offensive line is awful. Maybe that's why Thomas Jones has looked painfully average this season. The defensive line is laughable. Forget that fact that Dwayne "Mr. Invisible" Robertson is playing the wrong position (thanks to Mangenous), but this team needs a forceful impact defensive end. Something like they had when John Abraham was healthy and effective. I could go on and on about the defense but its the same thing we've been saying since Bill Parcells left after 1999. They can't tackle anyone. You literally could write the same analysis of the defense, specifically the secondary, for every game this season. Kind of think of it, you probably could write the same stuff for every game this season. The Jets had their obligatory two possession lead and lost it in the second half. This time however, it took them an extra period to loose it.....I guess that's what we call progress.
Edge tonight at 9 with Milan Nevidomsky and Mike Tramontozzi live from Moes on mywcwp.com. Nick, Steve, and I will be on FM at 10.
- Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge- Mondays, 9-10pm on www.mywcwp.com and 10-11 on 88.1fm WCWP
The real reason for above average Jet fan interest in this game was Kellen Clemens. Finally, the guy many Jet fans have wanted all year and I have wanted since the Giant loss made his non-fill-in debut. In a phrase: he was all right. What can you expect from a second year player making his first start after being named the official starting quarterback? (to clarify, he only started in Baltimore because Pennington got hurt). As I expected, he looked less nervous then when he came into the game late last week. He still was forcing some things that weren't there- but not frequent enough for it to be a trend that I was all that concerned about. I was a little concerned about the offense stalling in Redskin territory like it did, but you can't blame Clemens for all of that. A noticeable change was seen in the "zip" on Clemens throws. Compared to Pennington, Clemens looked like Brett Farve. And it seemed to catch the receivers off guard as well. For the second time this season, the recieving core that I think (maybe thought at this point) is so underrated played poorly. Brad Smith dropped two balls. One difficult but catchable and one painfully catchable. Even sure- handed Jericho Cotchery dropped a pass. Makes you wonder about that pass Justin Mcarins dropped in Baltimore, doesn't it? All in all, it was a good first "'permanent start" from Clemens. But with that being said, I think that we also saw yesterday that the offensive struggles this year were not all Chad Pennington's fault. The offense only scored 10 points in the game. Is that any better then its been all year?
Now that Pennington is on the bench, Jet fans can finally see that good ol' number 10 was not the sole reason this team was 1-7 through 8 game. 1-6 in the games he started (0-2 in the ones Clemens started by the way). The offensive line is awful. Maybe that's why Thomas Jones has looked painfully average this season. The defensive line is laughable. Forget that fact that Dwayne "Mr. Invisible" Robertson is playing the wrong position (thanks to Mangenous), but this team needs a forceful impact defensive end. Something like they had when John Abraham was healthy and effective. I could go on and on about the defense but its the same thing we've been saying since Bill Parcells left after 1999. They can't tackle anyone. You literally could write the same analysis of the defense, specifically the secondary, for every game this season. Kind of think of it, you probably could write the same stuff for every game this season. The Jets had their obligatory two possession lead and lost it in the second half. This time however, it took them an extra period to loose it.....I guess that's what we call progress.
Edge tonight at 9 with Milan Nevidomsky and Mike Tramontozzi live from Moes on mywcwp.com. Nick, Steve, and I will be on FM at 10.
- Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge- Mondays, 9-10pm on www.mywcwp.com and 10-11 on 88.1fm WCWP
Saturday, November 3, 2007
A New Low in a Season Full of Them
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. It did. Just when you thought it had to turn around, it just kept going straight down that same old road that we have seen since September 1st. For the first time in 44 years Notre Dame lost to Navy. Navy! Not USC, not Michigan, not Penn State, not even Georgia Tech. Now granted, the difference between the Navy game and those other four is simple. The Irish probably should have won today. A few things to look at when evaluating what went wrong. First, they had a lot of trouble with that option offense the Midshipman run. It seemed as if Navy has 3 plays. Fake to the running back once followed by a hand off, fake to the full back twice and pitch it out to the running back, fake to the running back three times and have the quarterback take it himself. Not exactly what one would call a complicated scheme. How ironic was it when Navy threw a some-what deep pass on the final drive of the game. Now, the option offense is not something that should be taken lightly. Lets be honest, it's an offense that probably single-handedly ruined Michigan's season. But with that being said, it did not seam as if Navy ran it particularly well either. To me, it was a bare boned version of the scheme which is why I was so shocked that it worked so well.
One thing that I can't get over: We know that Weis loves to go for it in fourth down. But why is he going for that fourth down and eight on the 24 yard line late in the fourth quarter. The field goal would have been 35 yards or thereabouts. The reason he gave in the post game press conference was that Walker missed that distance in pre-game warm ups. And yes, he did miss a 40 yard attempt late in the third but I still think that you make that call in that spot and I'll tell you why. It's a simple risk/reward proposition. Navy is not a big play offense that is going to be able to drive down the field and go 50-60 yards to set up a field goal of their own in :45 seconds. You take the points there if your Notre Dame. If Walker makes it, your up three and the game is more or less over. If Walker misses it, your in the same situation, asking Navy to drive down the field in under a minute. Something that I don't think Navy is going to do. The reward is far bigger then the risk. If your playing a team like USC, maybe the call is different. But when your playing NAVY, you have to think about what they can realistically do in :45 seconds. Weis did not do this and that is a major reason they lost the game.
Is that the sole reason the Irish lost today? No. Sharply did not play fantastic football but he did throw two touchdowns. Is this the Sharply that I thought I would see when I was calling for him a few weeks back? No, but I don't think you can say that ND lost because Sharply only threw for 139 yards. If you want to criticize him for anything its that fumble in the fourth that Navy returned for a touchdown. The reality is that this team probably does not have a quarterback at this point. Sharplys not good enough and Clauson isn't ready yet.....Demetrius Jones anyone?? No, seriously, I'm just kidding..........I'll leave my quarterback assessment section with this: Are we 100% sure that Brady Quinn had all his credits for graduation? Can someone check on that?
However, I must end my post with this. How nice was it to see Robert Hughes get that touchdown in the first quarter. Weis said before that game that all he wanted to do was get Hughes into the end zone. If you missed it, Hughes' brother died this week. Weis drove Hughes home and mourned with the family on Thursday. Hughes is a 18 year old freshman out of Chicago. He got into the end zone early in the game. Even watching the game on the television, you could feel the emotion in the stadium. That's what I like about Weis. For all his flaws (and I think we're seeing them this year more then any other), He strikes me as a guy who cares about his players and has a genuine sense of how football and family can interlock. I like that. I think that if Hughes had not scored on that first drive, Weis would have went to him again and again and again until Hughes either got in or asked Weis to quit it. That's just the kind of guy Weis seams to be. When your 1-7, you can afford to do that sort of thing. 1-8 now.
Congrats to NAVY. They broke a "curse" that seams to be pretty well documented with the cadets. Good for them. But there are certain lows in the game of college football. Loosing to Navy is one of them...............Air Force next week at home.
On a separate note- Mondays Edge will be live from Moes in Greenvale, NY. Milan Nevidomsky and Sean Croft will be there filling in for Nick, Steve, and I. We will be back at the station for the FM show on 88.1FM at 10.
-Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge- Mondays from 9-10pm on mywcwp.com.
One thing that I can't get over: We know that Weis loves to go for it in fourth down. But why is he going for that fourth down and eight on the 24 yard line late in the fourth quarter. The field goal would have been 35 yards or thereabouts. The reason he gave in the post game press conference was that Walker missed that distance in pre-game warm ups. And yes, he did miss a 40 yard attempt late in the third but I still think that you make that call in that spot and I'll tell you why. It's a simple risk/reward proposition. Navy is not a big play offense that is going to be able to drive down the field and go 50-60 yards to set up a field goal of their own in :45 seconds. You take the points there if your Notre Dame. If Walker makes it, your up three and the game is more or less over. If Walker misses it, your in the same situation, asking Navy to drive down the field in under a minute. Something that I don't think Navy is going to do. The reward is far bigger then the risk. If your playing a team like USC, maybe the call is different. But when your playing NAVY, you have to think about what they can realistically do in :45 seconds. Weis did not do this and that is a major reason they lost the game.
Is that the sole reason the Irish lost today? No. Sharply did not play fantastic football but he did throw two touchdowns. Is this the Sharply that I thought I would see when I was calling for him a few weeks back? No, but I don't think you can say that ND lost because Sharply only threw for 139 yards. If you want to criticize him for anything its that fumble in the fourth that Navy returned for a touchdown. The reality is that this team probably does not have a quarterback at this point. Sharplys not good enough and Clauson isn't ready yet.....Demetrius Jones anyone?? No, seriously, I'm just kidding..........I'll leave my quarterback assessment section with this: Are we 100% sure that Brady Quinn had all his credits for graduation? Can someone check on that?
However, I must end my post with this. How nice was it to see Robert Hughes get that touchdown in the first quarter. Weis said before that game that all he wanted to do was get Hughes into the end zone. If you missed it, Hughes' brother died this week. Weis drove Hughes home and mourned with the family on Thursday. Hughes is a 18 year old freshman out of Chicago. He got into the end zone early in the game. Even watching the game on the television, you could feel the emotion in the stadium. That's what I like about Weis. For all his flaws (and I think we're seeing them this year more then any other), He strikes me as a guy who cares about his players and has a genuine sense of how football and family can interlock. I like that. I think that if Hughes had not scored on that first drive, Weis would have went to him again and again and again until Hughes either got in or asked Weis to quit it. That's just the kind of guy Weis seams to be. When your 1-7, you can afford to do that sort of thing. 1-8 now.
Congrats to NAVY. They broke a "curse" that seams to be pretty well documented with the cadets. Good for them. But there are certain lows in the game of college football. Loosing to Navy is one of them...............Air Force next week at home.
On a separate note- Mondays Edge will be live from Moes in Greenvale, NY. Milan Nevidomsky and Sean Croft will be there filling in for Nick, Steve, and I. We will be back at the station for the FM show on 88.1FM at 10.
-Jordan Lauterbach: The Edge- Mondays from 9-10pm on mywcwp.com.
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